The day has been long yet fulfilling for Honey. Sure, she lost a couple of duels and now has a mild headache from going into three simulations at the same time, but now she is back at the Fleur de Lis Plaza, preparing to enjoy a lunch at Ignacio’s Nachos, which is a place that sells only nachos and drinks. There are forty-two variations of nachos, and a good selection of sodas and alcohol. Honey has decided to avoid alcohol while perusing the menu, because the last thing she wants is to go into the recruitment station smelling like booze and nachos; especially since she still has her paperwork, which she frequently checks to make sure it didn’t mysteriously vanish, unlike last time when Emma engaged in some sort of sorcery to retrieve it.

Aside from that, this day has been good, and the eatery is so far the best part.

Ignacio’s Nachos is dimly lit with paintings of ranches, colorful buildings, and Catholic iconography on the walls. It is also fairly packed with customers chatting lightly, waiters and waitresses bringing out orders, and chefs shouting in the kitchen in Outer Spanish, which is a mix of Spanglish and Outer French. Honey and Astros’ group has taken a seat near the exit, so while they enjoy their nachos, they can see shoppers walking by.

Petals and Asmund are on one side of the table, and Honey and Astros are on the other, and all their weapons are secured in compartments underneath their raised seats. Except for Honey’s. Her weapon is too large, so she has it sitting next to her and chained in place; the weapon’s size is also why she is by the wall. And while they browse the menu, Marie Rohan walks up to their table, wearing a simple waitress uniform with a white blouse, black pants, and a black apron full of straws and cutlery.

“Hello, everybody! Nice of you to see me!” says Marie.

The group greets Marie, save for Honey, who is merely smiling politely, and Asmund and Marie exchange a quick kiss before she pulls out her pad with a stylus.

“So, what are we having?” asks Marie.

“The usual, darling,” says Asmund.

“Of course,” says Marie, scribbling the order in. She looks at Petals. “And you?”

“Dr. Hector and Mexico City nacho plate,” says Petals.

“And you, Astros?” says Marie while writing down Petals order.

“Water and classic nachos,” says Astros.

Honey scoffs and Astros briefly glances at her while Marie writes down his order.

“And what are you getting, Honey?” asks Marie.

“The protein bomb nacho plate and a coca-soda,” says Honey.

“Very nice. And how did your duel go with Asmund?”

“It went fine,” says Asmund sharply.

“I won,” says Honey immediately after.

Asmund glares at Honey, and she flashes a brief, smug smile, and Marie sighs and runs her hand along Asmund’s shoulder.

“Well, now that the duel is done, hopefully you two will get along,” says Marie.

“We’ll get along just fine,” says Asmund.

“I sure hope so,” says Marie. “But I have to turn this in. I’ll be back with your drinks shortly. Separate tickets, correct?”

“I’ll pay for Honey’s and myself,” says Astros.

The group stares at Astros, and he casually collects the menus to give to Marie, and when she has the stack, she smiles and walks away. Once she is out of sight, Petals looks at Astros with a particularly salty look.

“What?” says Astros.

“You didn’t buy me lunch on our first date,” says Petals.

Honey stiffens, and Astros rolls his eyes.

“You said you would handle your ticket on our first date,” says Astros.

“It was a test!” says Petals.

“No, it wasn’t.”

“Yes, it was! And you failed!”

“Impossible. You can’t fail something that didn’t exist.”

“You’re a turd, you know that!”

The two continue exchanging words, with Petals having a harsh tone and Astros being calm, and Asmund waves Honey over. She reluctantly leans forward, and he says, “You’re better off tuning them out. They’ll be like this until the drinks arrive.”

Honey nods and sits back in her chair. Petals and Astros are still bickering.

“So, Asmund, what are you up to?” asks Honey over the voices of the arguing pair.

“I’m going to the Academy Recruitment Office after this,” says Asmund.

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Honey perks. “Oh. What a coincidence. So am I!”

Asmund frowns. “What?”

Honey smiles proudly. “Yeah, I came from Lilian, and flew all the way down here to join the Eqos Irregular Defense Force.”

“What possessed you do that?”

“My dad’s stories. He was part of the EIDF, too.”

“I presume he told you about the terrible stuff that happens.”

“Yep.”

“And you still want to join?”

“Yep.”

“You’re insane.”

“Hey, you want to join, too.”

“Yeah, but…”

Asmund stops, and Honey eyes him curiously. But he doesn’t finish because Marie returns with the drinks. And just as Asmund said, Petals and Astros immediately stop arguing when their drinks are put in front of them.

“The nachos will be done shortly,” says Marie.

The group thanks her, and as they sip their drinks, Honey looks at Astros out of the corner of her eye.

“So… date, eh?” says Honey cautiously.

“Not a date. I’m just being nice. You still owe me the cleaning bill, by the way,” says Astros.

Honey nods and sips her drink again, but she catches Petals mouthing, It’s a date.

Seeing this, Honey’s lips tighten and Astros kicks Petals’ foot.

“Don’t fill her head with ideas,” says Astros.

Petals kicks back, but says nothing, and Honey swallows what little of the carbonated goodness is in her mouth before looking at Astros.

“So, quick question,” says Honey. She points at Asmund. “He’s joining the EIDF, and you all seem pretty close. So… are you also joining?”

Astros nods. “I am. My family has been part of it since the beginning. I am merely carrying on the tradition.”

“Same with me and my family,” says Petals. She holds up her augmented arm and smirks as she wiggles her fingers. “I can’t wait to try this thing out in actual combat.”

“Tradition for me.” Honey points at Astros and Petals. “And tradition for you and you.” Her finger now turns to Asmund. “And… tradition?”

Asmund hesitates, and then shakes his head. “No, I’m the first in my family to do it. I had to get letters of recommendation from the patriarchs of their families and the gym.”

Petals and Astros nod in confirmation, and Honey blinks in confusion while Marie returns with a tray of nachos in flimsy metal trays with lids underneath them, bringing a smile to everyone. The smell of melted cheese, cooked meat, and various vegetables and spices are heaven to Honey’s senses, and she has to swallow to keep the drool down. Marie gives everyone their tickets, and kisses Asmund on the top of his head, and he returns with a kiss to her hand, and they exchange a quick farewell before she hurries off to take care of another table.

As they dig into their meals (with Petals making a bib out of her napkin before eating), Honey looks at Asmund and says, “You called me insane for wanting to join the EIDF.”

“Right. Because you’d have to be insane to do it,” says Asmund.

“So, you’re saying you’re insane. And you called your two friends insane, too.”

Asmund ponders this, then says, “Yes.”

“I mean, we are,” says Petals, her mouth full of food.

“I don’t like that term. I prefer ‘strongly motivated’,” says Astros.

“But I’m the most insane out of all of us because I’m doing it because I want to. Not to fulfill some obligation to tradition,” says Asmund.

Honey points at him with a meat covered nacho. “Hey, I’m doing this because I want to, too!”

The nacho snaps in half and falls to her stack of chips. Honey quickly eats what’s in her hand, and Asmund dismisses her with a wave of his hand.

“I don’t believe you, but if it helps you sleep at night, keep telling yourself that,” says Asmund.

Honey is about to say something else, but Astros puts his hand on her arm and wags his finger as a “No.” She gets the message and resumes eating her nachos in peace. After they are finished eating what they can, with Honey eating all of hers and Astros having half of his left over, they get their drinks refilled in to-go cups, pay their tickets, and exit Ignacio’s Nachos.

The mall is still crowded, but the group sticks close together as they weave their way through the numerous shoppers to get to The Academy of Irregular Defense Recruitment Office. When the group enters the office, a familiar bell dings, and the same person from before is sitting behind the same desk, watching the group enter.

“You’re back,” he says, looking at Honey. “And it looks like you brought friends. Have a seat, all of you.”

Everyone takes a seat, and they pull out their paperwork. The man behind the desk immediately gets to work, scanning and cross-referencing information, and each time he completes an information stack, he has the person sign some papers and give their thumbprint. And when Honey gets her paperwork, she reads it carefully, especially the back part with the small letters full of disclaimers.

Disclaimers include possibility of death during training, minimum of ten years of service, possibility of genetic, biological, and cybernetic experimentation, periods without pay if there is a government shutdown, deployment to other systems if needed, and while EIDF is part of the Eqos military the Federation Expeditionary Force is still supreme, so if needed they will be temporarily under FEF control in times of need. Also, religion and spirituality as well as vacations and pilgrimages are encouraged for morale, but Eqos and the EIDF comes first, meaning it is fully possible to have vacations, pilgrimages, and services cancelled for either emergency, staffing, or disciplinary reasons.

As Honey reads this list, she notices out of the corner of her eye the recruiter subtly nodding in approval at her and writing down a note. After Honey reads the paperwork, she signs and thumb-prints it, and returns it to the recruiter. He thanks her, scans it in his computer, then copies it on pink paper and gives it her.

“Your copy,” he says. And he does the same for Astros, Asmund, and Petals. Once all of them have their paperwork taken care of, he offers them a practiced smile, and says with an equally practiced tone, “Everything looks in order for all of you. The next flight to the Academy is in three weeks. If you arrive on the shuttle, great. If not, you clearly weren’t ready, so you’d be doing all of us a favor. Enjoy your day.”

“Thanks!” says Honey brightly.

She gets up and offers her hand to the recruiter, and he sighs and extends it so she can shake his hand. The others leave while also thanking him, but don’t shake his hand, and when they are outside the office, Honey takes a deep breath and smiles again with pride radiating from her.

“Finally,” says Honey. She looks to her left and sees Petals digging into her wallet, and she looks to the right and sees Astros rubbing his hands together with slow and hard motions, and Asmund is staring off into space. “Uh… Are you guys okay? Are you nervous?”

“I need to get trashed before I go to the Academy,” says Petals. She looks at Honey. “Do you want to get trashed with me before we sign our lives away?”

Honey rubs her neck, cringing. “I mean, I guess? But I wasn't expecting that. I still have to pay for a hole I punched in my hotel room wall.”

“I’ll buy your drinks,” says Astros.

Honey stops rubbing and looks at him, and Petals cocks a brow at him.

“Seriously? You didn’t buy me drinks,” says Petals.

“You didn’t want me to,” says Astros.

“I was testing you!”

“No, you weren’t.”

And thus, another argument begins while the pair walk away from the recruitment office, and Honey shakes her head and follows them with Asmund following close behind. But she can’t help but get a small smile from this, and while they walk, the sunlight shines through the glass panels of the mall. However, off in the distance, heavy clouds approach; but none of them notice, and even if they did notice they wouldn’t care, for tonight is going to be a night of indulgence before they leave for the next stage of their lives.